Lentil and okra curry

7-Mar-2016

We love curries, and if you are a foodie yourself, I’m quite sure that you love them just as much! However, the issue we find with curries is that to make them you usually require a pantry that is nothing short of extraordinary, because even the simplest Indian or Thai curry asks for at least five different and somewhat exotic ingredients that might well not be available everywhere. Well, luckily there are ways to create interesting curries without having to use ingredients that are difficult to find, so let’s go ahead and prepare this simple and delightful dish.

Next cut the okra into pieces, and dice the onions and the zucchini into pieces of a size similar to the okra.

Place your favourite pan over a medium heat and pour in the oil and the mustard seeds. The oil is only needed to toast the seeds, so it can be easily omitted and replaced with some water or stock to obtain an oil-free curry. The seeds can also be dry roasted in a pan without using any oil.

If you decide to use the oil, gently fry the seeds until they start popping.

At this point, add in the chilli and the onions, and cook them for about three minutes, or until slightly softened. If you are using water, feel free to add it in as needed during the cooking process.

Once the onions are cooked, tip in the okra, the zucchini, the lentils, and the water from the recipe, before stirring everything together and bringing to the boil.

Grate in the fresh turmeric, stir once again, turn the heat down to the minimum and cover the pan with the lid.

Cook the curry for 30 minutes over the lowest heat, so that it just simmers for the duration of the cooking time.

Once the time has elapsed, remove the lid and stir the ingredients. If the curry is already looking to have a perfect consistency, you simply have to add in the fresh coriander and adjust salt to taste if desired. But if your curry is still a bit too watery, simply cook it for another five minutes without the lid, and then ad in the coriander and the salt.

Substitutions and Tips

In case you can’t find the okra, you can substitute it with more zucchini, or you can use cauliflower, which works beautifully in this recipe.

The fresh turmeric can be substituted with ¼ tsp of turmeric powder.

If you have a favourite blend of spices, feel free to use that one instead of the spices we used. When making curries there aren’t really rules set in stone; the only thing that matters is for you to enjoy it.

The red lentils can be substituted with other pulses, like split peas or chana dahl. However, these pulses take more time to cook, so we recommend cooking them on the side first, and then add them into the curry towards the end of the cooking process.